1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to data transmission systems, and more particularly provides a system and method for transmitting and receiving data in a network.
2. Description of the Background Art
Cable television and internet television offer viewers both entertainment and intellectual value. Cable television allows a viewer to select a show from a broad range of simultaneous broadcasts. A viewer may review a broadcast guide, select a particular program and then tune-in to the proper channel. Alternatively, a viewer may flip through the channels until a program appears interesting. Internet television allows a user to xe2x80x9csurfxe2x80x9d a network, by connecting a set top box to the network and to the viewer""s television. The viewer interacts with the set top box, which responsively establishes communications channels with connected network servers. Accordingly, the viewer can receive and review an almost infinite amount of information.
Governments are concerned about providing internet television because its content is not regulated easily. A viewer can connect to any one of millions of servers to receive unregulated data. Thus, it is difficult for a government to control what each viewer sees on the internet. Governments prefer cable television, because its content can be supervised. For example, in China, the television broadcast industry is regulated by the Ministry of Radio, Film and Television (MRTF). The MRTF has licensed over 2000 cable television broadcasters, the three largest broadcasters being located in Shanghai, Beijing and Tianjin. The MRTF sets cable television subscription fees, allowing for variations based on locality, and regulates cable television broadcast content of each ministry. Accordingly, a system and method are needed that provide a user with an internet experience, but with the content regulation capability of cable television.
The present invention provides an advanced Internet and digitized video content delivery system through which application programs can be quickly sent to millions of households in an affordable way over an existing cable TV infrastructure. The system includes a transmitter and a receiver.
The receiver includes an advanced TV set-top box which receives Internet program broadcast from the transmitter. The box can receive many application channels being broadcast from the transmitter simultaneously. The box can intelligently filter out irrelevant information and display contents in anti-alias mode that reduce the flicking effects of an ordinary TV set. With a remote control, a user can extract the application channel of interests, surfing them at fast speeds. The receiver has full Internet browsing capability. At the heart of the box is the core technology that enables faster and more efficient content delivery. This key technology allows various Internet applications to be delivered to a TV set at the same time. Users can thus surf among Internet applications channels with a remote control which resembles a regular one for TV. The receiver receives control information from the transmitter, receives Internet contents from the transmitter, caches most recent/related information for the current active channel, formats and displays selected contents on TV with-Anti-flicking technology, sets initial/default application channel contents, manages local and incoming Internet files in an optimizing way, process user requests through a remote controller, and manages local memory content.
The transmitter is responsible for obtaining, reformatting and delivering Internet contents. The transmitter schedules the application programs and stages them to a master insertion system through which the programs are broadcast. The transmitter also manages user profiles and program packages. The transmitter obtains targeted contents from Internet, formats contents for insertion, schedule content delivery, sets up transmitter configurations, updates box configurations, updates transmitter configurations, allocates application channels, manages contents to be delivered, and manages user profile and package. The transmitter complies fully with the DVB/DAVIC standard, supports constellations up to 256-QAM, formats the equalized data which is then fed into a DVB/DAVIC compliant synchronization block, de-interleaver, Reed_Solomon FEC, and de-randomizer. The final error-corrected output is delivered in MPEG-2 transport format.
As indicated by the claims, the present invention provides a transmission system and a receiver system. The transmission system comprises a buffer memory storing data-to-be-transmitted, which contains channel information, a transmitter for transmitting the stored data based on the channel information, and a repeater coupled to the buffer memory and to the transmitter for repeatedly sending the stored data from the buffer memory to the transmitter. The receiver system comprises a receiver for receiving data packets being transmitted on multiple channels, a device coupled to the receiver for extracting a data packet from the received data packets based on a comparison of the received data packets and desired packet identification information, a browser coupled to the device for enabling presentation of an extracted data packet, and for enabling selection of an option, and a control engine coupled to the browser for managing the desired packet identification information based on the extracted data packet.
As further indicated by the claims, the present invention further provides a transmitter method and a receiver method. The transmitter method comprises storing data-to-be-transmitted, which contains channel information, selecting a transmission channel based on the channel information, and transmitting repeatedly the stored data on the selected transmission channel. The receiver method comprises receiving a data packet being transmitted on a first channel, comparing the data packet against desired packet identification information to determine if the data packet is desired, selecting the data packet if the data packet is desired, and managing the desired packet identification information based on a selected data packet.
With this system, cable operators can deliver additional value-added service to customers by delivering interesting and entertaining contents quickly to millions of households. Consumers can obtain the Internet experience without a computer that is difficult to use and expensive to buy. Moreover, content providers can accomplish much higher exposure and faster vehicle to effectively deliver contents.